The name Westly was brought to England by the Normans when they conquered the country in 1066. The ancestors of the Westly family lived in Cambridgeshire, at Westley or at Westley Waterless a small village and civil parish in East Cambridgeshire.

Early Origins of the Westly family

The surname Westly was first found in Cambridgeshire where they held a family seat as Lords of the manor of Westley Waterless. The place name dates back to the pre-Conquest times when it was first listed as Westle in 1045. By The Domesday Book of 1086, it was known as Weslai. [1]CITATION[CLOSE]Williams, Dr Ann. And G.H. Martin, Eds., Domesday Book A Complete Translation. London: Penguin, 1992. Print. (ISBN 0-141-00523-8) Conjecturally the family are descended from Hardwin, a Norman noble of Scales, who held the village of Westley from the Countess Judith at the time of the taking of the Domesday Book. William de Westle was Archdeacon of Durham (1362-1369.) However, Westleigh in Lancashire may be the origin of the family. "A family of the local name is mentioned [here] in the reign of Richard I." [2]CITATION[CLOSE]Lewis, Samuel, A Topographical Dictionary of England. Institute of Historical Research, 1848, Print.

Early History of the Westly family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Westly research.Another 197 words (14 lines of text) covering the years 1800, 1636, 1678, 1662, 1735, 1669, 1742, 1596 and 1680 are included under the topic Early Westly History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Westly Spelling Variations

It is only in the last few hundred years that the English language has been standardized. For that reason, Anglo-Norman surnames like Westly are characterized by many spelling variations. Scribes and monks in the Middle Ages spelled names they sounded, so it is common to find several variations that refer to a single person. As the English language changed and incorporated elements of other European languages such as Norman French and Latin, even literate people regularly changed the spelling of their names. The variations of the name Westly include Westly, Westley, Westle, Westles and others.

Early Notables of the Westly family (pre 1700)

Outstanding amongst the family at this time was John Westley (Wesley) (1636-1678), an English nonconformist minister; his son Samuel Wesley (1662-1735), English minister and poet, father of John and Charles Wesley; and... Another 31 words (2 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Westly Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Migration of the Westly family to the New World and Oceana

Faced with the chaos present in England at that time, many English families looked towards the open frontiers of the New World with its opportunities to escape oppression and starvation. People migrated to North America, as well as Australia and Ireland in droves, paying exorbitant rates for passages in cramped, unsafe ships. Many of the settlers did not make the long passage alive, but those who did see the shores of North America were welcomed with great opportunity. Many of the families that came from England went on to make essential contributions to the emerging nations of Canada and the United States. Some of the first immigrants to cross the Atlantic and come to North America carried the name Westly, or a variant listed above:

Westly Settlers in United States in the 17th Century

Ann Westly, who settled in Virginia in 1636

Ann Westly, who landed in Virginia in 1636 [3]CITATION[CLOSE]Filby, P. William, Meyer, Mary K., Passenger and immigration lists index : a guide to published arrival records of about 500,000 passengers who came to the United States and Canada in the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. 1982-1985 Cumulated Supplements in Four Volumes Detroit, Mich. : Gale Research Co., 1985, Print (ISBN 0-8103-1795-8)

Edw Westly, who arrived in Virginia in 1665 [3]CITATION[CLOSE]Filby, P. William, Meyer, Mary K., Passenger and immigration lists index : a guide to published arrival records of about 500,000 passengers who came to the United States and Canada in the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. 1982-1985 Cumulated Supplements in Four Volumes Detroit, Mich. : Gale Research Co., 1985, Print (ISBN 0-8103-1795-8)

^ Filby, P. William, Meyer, Mary K., Passenger and immigration lists index : a guide to published arrival records of about 500,000 passengers who came to the United States and Canada in the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. 1982-1985 Cumulated Supplements in Four Volumes Detroit, Mich. : Gale Research Co., 1985, Print (ISBN 0-8103-1795-8)

^ The Political Graveyard: Alphabetical Name Index. (Retrieved 2015, November 4) . Retrieved from http://politicalgraveyard.com/alpha/index.html